A brief-yet-ongoing journal of all things Carmi. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll reach for your mouse to click back to Google. But you'll be intrigued. And you'll feel compelled to return following your next bowl of oatmeal. With brown sugar. And milk.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Just north of London, there's a crossroads familiar to anyone who travels the rural highways that connect southwestern Ontario like a stitched baseball.

Right near one particularly busy intersection - Richmond and Highway 7/aka Elginfield Road - there's a legendary old restaurant, the North Star, that's been a beacon for travellers for as long as anyone can remember.

We stop here often for dropoffs and pickups. And every time we do, I feel the need to look out over the adjacent farmer's fields. Sometimes, the view makes the trip absolutely worthwhile.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

23 years ago, this no-longer-so-little guy instantly - okay, not so instantly, as he logged over 16 hours of labour before deciding to make his appearance - turned us into parents and forever changed our world for the better.

He's gone from a wrinkly munchkin to a kind-hearted, creative and wickedly funny young man in what seems like a blink. What a journey it's been, and how lucky we are to call him our son.

We know the next year will be a momentous one for you, Zach Levy - and we can't wait to see where your next adventure takes you. Keep going from strength to strength.

Had to stop the bike alongside the #Thames #valley #parkway path this a.m. to grab a view of the beloved #Blackfriars bridge before it's dismantled and removed for repair. I worry we'll lose this gem for good.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

I'm not often here after the sun goes down. Wait, rephrase that: I'm not often here at all. Dundas Street was once the retail and commercial spine of downtown London, a vital artery that fuelled the city's growth.

These days, like so many downtown retail streets, it's a mere shadow of what it once was. Decades of efforts to revitalize it are starting to generate some encouraging results, but it'll be a while before it's anywhere close to that old vital-class standard, where families looked forward to coming here evenings and weekends, and no one sighed at the very mention of the word, "Dundas".

We'll get there. Until then, I'll shoot flashes of its former brilliance wherever I can find them. Like here.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Stalking cloud formations in the sky will never get old, especially since we live in a part of the world that so willingly offers up limitless amounts of new formations with each passing minute. Lucky us.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty passionate about my cycling. It isn't just a way around town for me. It's a way of life, and a defining component of who I am. If you're ever in the 'hood, I'm always looking for folks to join me.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Sad clown is home and miserable, but she did well at the vet and is now being hovered over relentlessly by her human siblings. Gonna be a long few nights and days, but in the overall scheme of things, it's just an eventful day in the otherwise charmed life of a typically happy puppy. We'll take that. Others have it far worse.

It’s unclear “how law enforcement is going to be given the resources they need to make sure that that drone that you buy at the big-box store today doesn’t cause an accident tomorrow,” the CTV News technology analyst Carmi Levy said on a news broadcast. “Right now it relies on citizens seeing them in the sky and reporting them.”

Monday, October 16, 2017

I'm not one to participate in cut-and-paste Facebook viral share-fests - like the #MeToo one currently making the rounds - as I suspect there are better ways to repair the world.

Still, this brings to mind a former employer who emotionally abused his spouse/business partner in meetings, in full view of their employees. It started the first day I worked there and never stopped. He'd email attendees afterward, trying to explain how this was a sign of a healthy personal and professional relationship.

I emailed those messages home just in case I ever got a call from a lawyer. Pond scum.

I'm never comfortable with Facebook's ability to grab a memory from long ago and fling it back at you with no regard to context. Yet, as I cuddled Calli the wonderschnauzerpuppy on our way out for our pre-dawn walk, it made me smile to think that she was somehow connected to the other wonderschnauzerpuppy you see in the photo here. The two of them would have been quite a pair.

Monday's bike-commute home was particularly lovely. Discovered a new bike path just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The forest complied with a little light show in the dying light. Sometimes life really is that simple.